Advice Needed: Customer Service issue Royal Caribbean

[Miche314]

Hi all! Excited to be joining this cruise for my anniversary…I never had issues with booking over the phone in the past but recently a mistake was made and I wanted to ask some advice.

 

I am 100% a Royal Caribbean fan. To be honest of all the cruise lines I think there customer service is awesome especially with things like FCC during times like these.

 

I wanted your opinion though on a issue I had. I booked this cruise with agent and he told me multiple times on the call that I was booking in ocean view balcony. To my shock after being told everything was perfect I found out that I was booked in interior cabin. I called Customer Service and they listened to recording of the call and told me that they could not honour booking me in the ocean view balcony…am I wrong to be upset here…I really thought they would.  Especially since It was mentioned 3 times and confirmed at end of the call by the agent that I was in fact booked in a balcony room…

 

Keep in mind when I called them to address the mistake they had made the price had shot up 800.
 

I feel the should honour the room category as there was not indication on the call that I was being booked in interior and I was told everything was as requested. from the time I booked and was under the impression…I am troubled by this truly. I hope I can get it resolved. Still looking forward to this cruise but it being my anniversary I wanted the balcony to make it special especially since it has been over 2 yrs since a vacation….

 

Anyways rant over…would love advice and if anyone has had this happen to them.

[Jimbo]

4 hours ago, Miche314 said:

 

Hi all! Excited to be joining this cruise for my anniversary…I never had issues with booking over the phone in the past but recently a mistake was made and I wanted to ask some advice.

 

I am 100% a Royal Caribbean fan. To be honest of all the cruise lines I think there customer service is awesome especially with things like FCC during times like these.

 

I wanted your opinion though on a issue I had. I booked this cruise with agent and he told me multiple times on the call that I was booking in ocean view balcony. To my shock after being told everything was perfect I found out that I was booked in interior cabin. I called Customer Service and they listened to recording of the call and told me that they could not honour booking me in the ocean view balcony…am I wrong to be upset here…I really thought they would.  Especially since It was mentioned 3 times and confirmed at end of the call by the agent that I was in fact booked in a balcony room…

 

Keep in mind when I called them to address the mistake they had made the price had shot up 800.
 

I feel the should honour the room category as there was not indication on the call that I was being booked in interior and I was told everything was as requested. from the time I booked and was under the impression…I am troubled by this truly. I hope I can get it resolved. Still looking forward to this cruise but it being my anniversary I wanted the balcony to make it special especially since it has been over 2 yrs since a vacation….

 

Anyways rant over…would love advice and if anyone has had this happen to them.

At anytime during the recording of the call do you hear them say a cabin  number. That would just about  be your only chance of retaining the  price you were quoted.

Call them back and tell them you want to listen to the recording with them.

Hopefully when you made the booking you had a deck plan in front of you.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Jimbo

[nelblu]

4 hours ago, Miche314 said:

 

Hi all! Excited to be joining this cruise for my anniversary…I never had issues with booking over the phone in the past but recently a mistake was made and I wanted to ask some advice.

 

I am 100% a Royal Caribbean fan. To be honest of all the cruise lines I think there customer service is awesome especially with things like FCC during times like these.

 

I wanted your opinion though on a issue I had. I booked this cruise with agent and he told me multiple times on the call that I was booking in ocean view balcony. To my shock after being told everything was perfect I found out that I was booked in interior cabin. I called Customer Service and they listened to recording of the call and told me that they could not honour booking me in the ocean view balcony…am I wrong to be upset here…I really thought they would.  Especially since It was mentioned 3 times and confirmed at end of the call by the agent that I was in fact booked in a balcony room…

 

Keep in mind when I called them to address the mistake they had made the price had shot up 800.
 

I feel the should honour the room category as there was not indication on the call that I was being booked in interior and I was told everything was as requested. from the time I booked and was under the impression…I am troubled by this truly. I hope I can get it resolved. Still looking forward to this cruise but it being my anniversary I wanted the balcony to make it special especially since it has been over 2 yrs since a vacation….

 

Anyways rant over…would love advice and if anyone has had this happen to them.

I'm not sure how things will work out for you, but I always do my homework with mock bookings and know which deck, cabin # and price.  Then I call either a TA or RCL and make a reservation.

[smokeybandit]

You should know what you're booking when you're booking it.

[shipgeeks]

Did you get an email (or other) confirmation of your booking, with a cabin number?  That should allow you to look up the cabin and see what it is.

[Jimbo]

29 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

You should know what you're booking when you're booking it.

That's helpful, thanks for posting that.

[madiaka]

Maybe this was a booking for a Oceanview Balcony GTY cabin.  I changed my cabin on Symphony when they had a sale last week to an Oceanview Balcony GTY because it was $1200 total cheaper than a chosen Boardwalk balcony cabin.  I confirmed with the CSR multiple times that it was Oceanview Balcony GTY.  My invoice just showsGTY and nothing else.  I reviewed it while he was on the phone.  He insisted that it was an Oceanview Balcony GTY, and said it shows as XB category in his records -- even though it doesn't show that on my invoice.  When I looked online, I only saw GTY for awhile.  Now, it shows Balcony GTY, but still doesn't show Oceanview Balcony GTY.  (Note: I called twice and spoke to 2 different CSRs that said the same thing.)

 

I hope the OP is able to get them to honor the original request.  

 

Is there a way to get confirmation of an Oceanview Balcony GTY when it doesn't show on an invoice, and CSRs insist that they've sent you the appropriate invoice/paperwork?

[gfkcruiser]

I don’t hang up until I receive the e-mail with the confirmation and make sure it reflects what I have booked.  Have had issues and it was corrected and new confirmation sent.  

[Itchy&Scratchy]

OP, did you book directly through RCI or through a non-RCI travel agent? Did you book a particular cabin or did you book a guarantee cabin within the OV balcony category?

Edited February 3, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy

[crazyank]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

You should know what you're booking when you're booking it.

 

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

That's helpful, thanks for posting that.

Totally agree with Jimbo,  

[Sunshine3601]

7 hours ago, Miche314 said:

 

Hi all! Excited to be joining this cruise for my anniversary…I never had issues with booking over the phone in the past but recently a mistake was made and I wanted to ask some advice.

 

I am 100% a Royal Caribbean fan. To be honest of all the cruise lines I think there customer service is awesome especially with things like FCC during times like these.

 

I wanted your opinion though on a issue I had. I booked this cruise with agent and he told me multiple times on the call that I was booking in ocean view balcony. To my shock after being told everything was perfect I found out that I was booked in interior cabin. I called Customer Service and they listened to recording of the call and told me that they could not honour booking me in the ocean view balcony…am I wrong to be upset here…I really thought they would.  Especially since It was mentioned 3 times and confirmed at end of the call by the agent that I was in fact booked in a balcony room…

 

Keep in mind when I called them to address the mistake they had made the price had shot up 800.
 

I feel the should honour the room category as there was not indication on the call that I was being booked in interior and I was told everything was as requested. from the time I booked and was under the impression…I am troubled by this truly. I hope I can get it resolved. Still looking forward to this cruise but it being my anniversary I wanted the balcony to make it special especially since it has been over 2 yrs since a vacation….

 

Anyways rant over…would love advice and if anyone has had this happen to them.

Did you book with a travel agent or call royal direct and book with one of their agents?

Did you do a mock booking on royals website before you called?     We always pick out our cabin number to know exactly.  

Do a mock booking today to see if the price you got yesterday was for an interior or an Ov balcony.  

[dcgrumpy]

Was this a GTY or were you given a cabin number? 

[leaveitallbehind]

I'm a little confused.  You indicate in your post that the agent said several times over the phone that it was an OV Balcony stateroom, but that you later found out it was an interior.  So when you called back the agent at that time listened to the recording of your call, but said that they could not honor the OV Balcony booking. 

 

If in fact your call was recorded and then later reviewed, would the acknowledgement made several times by the agent regarding the stateroom category not indicate the mistake made - as well as confirm the price that was quoted?  Are they just not willing to honor the quoted price (which I am guessing was based on the interior v OV balcony) in moving you to an OV Balcony - which would have a significantly higher price to begin with?

 

Is this a US based booking?  If so, did you originally  make a refundable deposit or non-refundable deposit booking (NRD)?  If it was a refundable deposit, you can cancel the booking without penalty and rebook at the OV Balcony category . The only issue would be at what price.  Perhaps they would honor the OV Balcony price in place at the time of the original booking, which is what you should have paid with a correct booking in the first place.

 

Just need a little more information as indicated.  But either way I hope it eventually works out for you.

 

 

[Miche314]

3 hours ago, madiaka said:

Maybe this was a booking for a Oceanview Balcony GTY cabin.  I changed my cabin on Symphony when they had a sale last week to an Oceanview Balcony GTY because it was $1200 total cheaper than a chosen Boardwalk balcony cabin.  I confirmed with the CSR multiple times that it was Oceanview Balcony GTY.  My invoice just showsGTY and nothing else.  I reviewed it while he was on the phone.  He insisted that it was an Oceanview Balcony GTY, and said it shows as XB category in his records -- even though it doesn't show that on my invoice.  When I looked online, I only saw GTY for awhile.  Now, it shows Balcony GTY, but still doesn't show Oceanview Balcony GTY.  (Note: I called twice and spoke to 2 different CSRs that said the same thing.)

 

I hope the OP is able to get them to honor the original request.  

 

Is there a way to get confirmation of an Oceanview Balcony GTY when it doesn't show on an invoice, and CSRs insist that they've sent you the appropriate invoice/paperwork?

This is what happened to me. And as people are saying I did in fact wait til I got the invoice and asked at the time of getting it to confirm I was I in fact in the ocean view balcony GTY…the agent said YES…In addition I asked 3 times to confirm this on the call as it was important to me. 
 

I was confused by the GTY on my invoice and then Rccl said I was booked in an interior….which was not what the agent confirmed to be. 
 

I booked over the phone with Royal direct and they made this mistake…proof is in the recording of my call.

[topnole]

Independent of what you wanted, was the price you paid for a balcony or was

it for an inside cabin?   Either way, ask to escalate the situation and get someone on the phone at a higher level.  
 

Assume you are not in the US, but I would also consider reporting this to whatever regulatory group has jurisdiction.  If your story is accurate, this has to violate some type of consumer protection law.  
 

For starters, I would demand a full refund if I were you.  Then I would consider my next options after that.  

 

[leaveitallbehind]

11 minutes ago, Miche314 said:

This is what happened to me. And as people are saying I did in fact wait til I got the invoice and asked at the time of getting it to confirm I was I in fact in the ocean view balcony GTY…the agent said YES…In addition I asked 3 times to confirm this on the call as it was important to me. 
 

I was confused by the GTY on my invoice and then Rccl said I was booked in an interior….which was not what the agent confirmed to be. 
 

I booked over the phone with Royal direct and they made this mistake…proof is in the recording of my call.

Then if it was confirmed with your second call through the review of your first recorded call that the interior was booked by mistake on their part, then other than for not wanting to be willing to move you to the OV balcony at the interior price, I don't understand why they would not change the booking. 

 

Are you asking them to do so at the interior price?  If so, that might be the issue.  Also, was the GTY issued under a refundable or NRD basis?  That, too, would come into play as those prices are lower and have restrictions regarding the deposit for changing a reservation.

 

And if this is not a US based booking, then the rules relative to the country of booking may be different as well and may have a bearing on this.

 

I understand your frustration and that this apparently was their mistake - just trying to understand the whole picture better to get their position  - and potential steps towards a resolution.

Edited February 3, 2022 by leaveitallbehind
correction

[madiaka]

1 hour ago, Miche314 said:

 

I was confused by the GTY on my invoice and then Rccl said I was booked in an interior….which was not what the agent confirmed to be. 
 

I booked over the phone with Royal direct and they made this mistake…proof is in the recording of my call.

I totally understand.  I searched Cruise Critic and found a couple of other posters that had only GTY on their invoices.  But, they ended up with the correct cabin category.  The RCCL CSR insisted that this invoice showing only GTY was all that they could send, but I didn't have proof that they booked me in the correct category until a week later when "balcony GTY " showed up when I signed in to their website. (Still not OV Balcony GTY though.)

 

At the time I booked it, the price on the invoice was close to the price of an OV Balcony GTY when a mock booking was done, so I had to "trust" that the CSR booked it correctly.  But, since then the price for an OV Balcony GTY has doubled.  It sounds like RCCL is trying to get more money by asking you to pay the difference between the prior price and the current price for their mistake.  I hope you are able to fight it and get them to honor the original booking category and price. 

[cindyscruise]

Did they have your also listen to the recording?  If not, I would insist that you be allowed to listen.  

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, madiaka said:

...It sounds like RCCL is trying to get more money by asking you to pay the difference between the prior price and the current price for their mistake.  I hope you are able to fight it and get them to honor the original booking category and price. 

I tend to think that may be the case.  The OP has not clarified that point, but I'm guessing what they are looking for is the same price as quoted and booked for the interior to be applied to the OV Balcony as a result of what apparently was the booking agent's mistake.  What they may be willing to do is apply what would have been the price at the time of booking for the OV Balcony instead of the interior v rebooking at today's price for the same.  But I doubt they will be willing to apply the original interior price to a revised booking OV Balcony. 

 

But the only way to be sure is for the OP to contact the Resolutions Dept. at the cruise line and talk with them.

[alohayall]

Best of success. They should book you an OV Balcony (or better, if unavailable) at the rate that was offered on your date of booking.  Especially if it is on tape that that is what you were requesting.  Pretty straight forward.

 

I hope this doesn’t sour your anniversary cruise. 

[Miche314]

Hey everyone! Update! After a lot of back and forth and speaking to a bunch of people. They gave me GTY Ocean View Balcony - for the price of GTY interior which I understand is huge!! Normally would not fuss about price but I was told 3 times I was booked in ocean view as I went through the process and it was recorded! So for me it was just a matter of principle….So happy I got it all sorted and excited to cruise for my anniversary! 

[madiaka]

11 hours ago, Miche314 said:

 

Hey everyone! Update! After a lot of back and forth and speaking to a bunch of people. They gave me GTY Ocean View Balcony - for the price of GTY interior which I understand is huge!! Normally would not fuss about price but I was told 3 times I was booked in ocean view as I went through the process and it was recorded! So for me it was just a matter of principle….So happy I got it all sorted and excited to cruise for my anniversary! 

Congratulations.  I'm glad you were able to get it resolved in your favor.  I had wondered what happened.  

 

Since I had a similar experience in trusting the CSR over the phone, with no evidence on the printed invoice,  I was concerned that you wouldn't have a favorable outcome. My cruise isn't until July and it now shows Balcony GTY online, so I printed that and attached it to my invoice.

 

Enjoy your cruise.  Thanks for the update.